Spaceway-3

Spaceway-3
Operator Hughes
Mission duration 12 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus BSS-702
Manufacturer Boeing
Launch mass 6,075 kilograms (13,393 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date August 14, 2007 (2007-08-14)
Rocket Ariane 5
Launch site Kourou ELA-3
Contractor Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Geostationary
Longitude 95° West
Transponders
Frequency 10 Gbit/s
Bandwidth 500 megahertz

SPACEWAY-3 is a communications satellite which, as of August 2007, is undergoing on-orbit testing after its successful launch. The third satellite in the SPACEWAY series, it includes a Ka-band communications payload.[1] After testing it will be used by Hughes Network Systems to provide broadband Internet Protocol network service.

Launch

SPACEWAY-3 was launched August 14, 2007 on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.[2] It lifted off at 23:44 GMT from Ariane Launch Complex 3 of the Guiana Space Centre. Five hours and 46 minutes later, signals from the spacecraft were successfully received at a ground station in Hartebeesthoek, South Africa.[3]

In March 2007, shortly after the failure of a Sea Launch rocket launch in January, Hughes Network Systems switched launch of SPACEWAY-3 from a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket to an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.[4][5]

See also

References

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